The present invention relates to an anisotropically conductive member. The invention relates further to a method of manufacturing such a member.
An anisotropically conductive member, when inserted between an electronic component such as a semiconductor device and a circuit board, then subjected to merely the application of pressure, is able to provide an electrical connection between the electronic component and the circuit board. Accordingly, such members are widely used, for example, as electrically connecting members for semiconductor devices and other electronic components, and as inspection connectors when carrying out functional inspections.
In particular, owing to the remarkable degree of miniaturization that has occurred in electrically connecting members for semiconductor devices and the like, in conventional techniques such as wire bonding that involve the direct connection of a wiring substrate, it has become difficult to make the wire diameter any smaller than it currently is.
This situation has drawn attention in recent years to anisotropically conductive members of a type in which an array of electrically conductive elements pass completely through a film of insulating material, or of a type in which metal balls are arranged in a film of insulating material.
Inspection connectors for semiconductor devices and the like are used to avoid the large monetary losses that are incurred when, upon carrying out functional inspections after an electronic component such as a semiconductor device has been mounted on a circuit board, the electronic component is found to be defective and the circuit board is discarded together with the electronic component.
That is, by bringing electronic components such as semiconductor devices into electrical contact with a circuit board through an anisotropically conductive member at positions similar to those to be used during mounting and carrying out functional inspections, it is possible to perform the functional inspections without actually mounting the electronic components on the circuit board itself, thus enabling the above problem to be avoided.
Such an anisotropically conductive member is described in JP 2000-012619 A, which discloses “an anisotropically conductive film comprising a film substrate composed of an adhesive insulating material and a plurality of conductive paths composed of an electrically conductive material which are arrayed within the film substrate in a mutually insulated state and pass entirely through the film substrate in a thickness direction thereof, wherein the conductive paths have shapes, in a cross-section parallel to a lengthwise direction of the film substrate, with circumferences having thereon an average maximum length between two points of from 10 to 30 μm, and wherein neighboring conductive paths have intervals therebetween which are from 0.5 to 3 times said average maximum length.”
JP 2005-085634 A discloses “an anisotropically conductive film comprising a film base material composed of an insulating resin and a plurality of conductive paths which are mutually insulated, pass entirely through the film base in a thickness direction thereof and are positioned in staggered rows, wherein conductive paths in mutually neighboring conductive path rows have a smaller distance therebetween than conductive paths within a single row of conductive paths.”
JP 2000-012619 A and JP 2005-085634 A disclose methods of manufacturing such anisotropically conductive films in which fine wires of an anisotropically conductive material are inserted into an insulating film, the elements are integrally united by the application of heat and pressure, and scribing is subsequently carried out in the thickness direction.
JP 2002-134570 A examines a method of manufacturing an anisotropically conductive film which involves electroforming conductive columns using a resist and a mask, then pouring an insulating material in the columns and solidifying the insulating material.
JP 03-182081 A discloses “a method of manufacturing an electrically connecting member having a retaining body made of an electrically insulating material and a plurality of conductive elements provided in a mutually insulating state within the retaining body, wherein an end of each conductive element is exposed on a side of the retaining body and the other end of each conductive element is exposed on the other side of the retaining body, which method comprises:
a first step of exposing a matrix having a base and an insulating layer which, when deposited on the base, forms the retaining body to a high energy beam from the insulating layer side, thereby removing all of the insulating layer and part of the base in a plurality of regions so as to form a plurality of holes in the matrix;
a second step of filling the plurality of formed holes with a conductive material for forming said conductive elements so as to be flush with the sides of the insulating layer or to protrude from said sides; and
a third step of removing said base.”
JP 03-182081 A also carries out investigations on various materials (e.g., polyimide resins, epoxy resins and silicone resins) as the insulating layer.
However, with the increasing trend in recent years toward higher integration, electrode (terminal) sizes in electronic components such as semiconductor devices are becoming smaller, the number of electrodes (terminals) is increasing, and the distance between terminals is becoming tighter. Moreover, there have also appeared electronic components having a surface construction wherein the surface on each of the numerous terminals arranged at a tight pitch lies at a position that is more recessed than the surface of the component itself.
In order to be able to adapt to such electronic components, there has arisen a need to make the outer diameter (thickness) of the conductive paths in anisotropically conductive members smaller and to arrange the conductive paths in a tighter pitch.
However, in the methods of manufacturing the anisotropically conductive films and electrically connecting members described in the above references, it has been very difficult to reduce the size of the conductive paths.